


FT MEADE 
GenCol1 


By MABEL F. STRYKER 















































































































































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Out ran the chipmunks 
























































LITTLE DOG READY 

How He Lost Himself in the Big World 


by MABEL F. STRYKER 

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With Illustrations by HUGH SPENCER 


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NEW YORK 

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 

1923 








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COPYRIGHT, 1923 
BY 

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 
September, 1923 



PRINTED IN 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


OCT 12 ’23 


©CH760316 


TO ALL CHILDREN 
AND GROWN-UPS 
WHO LOVE DOGS 


in 






































CONTENTS 


Chapter I 

How Ready Lost His Head. 1 

Chapter II 

Ready a Prisoner. 11 

Chapter III 

Freedom . 18 

Chapter IV 

Ready at the Great Gathering. 32 

Chapter V 

Bad News. 50 


V 







Chapter VI 

With the Chipmunks. 70 

Chapter VII 

The Journey With the Swallows. 81 

Chapter VIII 

A Dreadful Visitor. 95 

Chapter IX 

The Journey With the Sandpiper. 99 

Chapter X 

The End of the Lonely Road.117 


vi 







LITTLE DOG READY 


CHAPTER I 


HOW READY LOST HIS HEAD 

H E was a little black and white dog with a 

shaggy coat and a waggy tail. He had 

very polite eyes which were always watching 

people to find out what they would like to have 

him do. Whenever people were kind enough to 

tell him what they wanted, he would always 

do it for them if he possibly could, and that 

is why he was named “Ready.” 

Ready loved his little master Dick more 

than any one in the world, and Dick never 

wanted Ready out of his sight; and that is how 

this story came about. 

It was a very sad day for Dick and Ready 

1 


2 


LITTLE DOG READY 


when Dick fell from the apple tree and broke 
his arm. Have you ever broken your arm? If 
you have, you know how much it hurts, and how 
still you have to be. Even then the pain won’t 
go away. Of course Dick wanted Ready with 
him every single minute of the day and night. 

But in the middle of the second night 
Ready felt that he really must stretch his legs 
while Dick was asleep. He would not have 
thought of letting his master know that he was 
in great need of a little run, but now that Dick 
was asleep—and he put his nose against Dick’s 
good arm to be quite sure that he was—Ready 
stepped out of the open window into the big 
world. 

I suppose all would have gone well if Ready 
had not met Big Yellow Dog. Big Yellow Dog 



All would have gone well if Ready had not met 

Big Yellow Dog 



























4 


LITTLE DOG READY 


had always snubbed Ready frightfully, but even 
Big Yellow Dogs have their good moments, 
and this must have been one of them. 

Big Yellow Dog said, “Good evening,” and 
almost stopped. 

This turned Ready’s head. It would have 
turned any dog’s head. Did you ever have 
your head turned? You will some day, and 
when it happens, try hard to look where you 
are going, for you are always going wrong. 

Of course Ready did not know this, and 
when Big Yellow Dog said pleasantly, “Come 
along,” Ready went. Faster and faster ran 
Big Yellow Dog. Faster and faster ran Ready, 
although he felt that his legs were getting 
shorter and shorter. 

Suddenly Ready lost sight of Big Yellow 


HOW READY LOST HIS HEAD 


5 


Dog altogether, and then he felt very tired. 
He sat right down on the pavement, for he 
knew now that his head had been turned. Of 



course he tried to turn it back again, but he was 
so tired that he only made it worse. 

Then he tried to run home, but of course he 
ran in the wrong direction, and when you run 


6 


LITTLE DOG READY 


home in the wrong direction, a most unpleasant 
thing happens —you don't get there at all. 

Ready ran on and on until he came to a house 
which he thought was his. You see he was 
quite sleepy by this time, and when you have a 
sleepy turned head you may as well give up. 

He wondered why the windows were all 
closed, but even before he had finished saying, 

“How queer that the windows are not-” he 

was fast asleep on the doormat. He did not 
wake up until he heard some one talking. 

“Oh, see this darling little dog!” said a young 
lady, looking down at him. 

Then all the family came to look down at him 
and to say, “How cute!” and “What a dear!” 

Now Ready, as you remember, was a very 
polite little dog; so of course he wagged his 



HOW READY LOST HIS HEAD 


7 


waggy tail and said in his best dog language, 
“How do you do?” 

This seemed to delight everybody, and they 
gave him breakfast at once. Ready greatly en- 



“How do you do?” 


joyed his breakfast, and he thought there would 
be no harm in staying a few minutes with such 
very pleasant people. But that is where he 
made his second bad mistake, as you will see. 

He really should have run away from them as 








8 


LITTLE DOG READY 


fast as his little legs could carry him, for all at 
once the young lady said, “I am going to keep 
this little dog forever.” 

“But you can see by his collar,” said her 
mother, “that he belongs to some one else.” 

I had forgotten to tell you that Ready wore a 
nice little silver collar and on it was written: 

“HIS NAME IS READY BECAUSE HE 
ALWAYS IS SO.” 

“It does not say where he belongs,” said the 
young lady with a pout, “and I want him.” 

“He will not want to stay,” said the mother. 

“Then I will tie him up and make him stay,” 
said the young lady, quite crossly. 

Now any one could see with half an eye that 
the young lady was going to have her own way. 


HOW READY LOST HIS HEAD 


9 


Even Ready felt that without understanding 
young-lady language. If he had known what 
dreadful things she was saying, of course he 
would have run right out of the door. 

But he did not know; so he only wagged his 
tail, hoping that would make her feel a little 
better. He thought that he must do something 
in return for his good breakfast. 

The young lady grew crosser and crosser and 

finally stamped her foot. This made Ready 
decide to leave at once, for there is no knowing 
what may happen to dogs or dishes when any 
one begins to stamp a foot! 

Ready stood up and said his prettiest good¬ 
bye, which was three little barks and then one 
long one, with tail wagging all the time, of 


course. 


10 


LITTLE DOG READY 


In a second he would have been out of the 
house, but the young lady caught him by the 
collar and held him. 

Then—I cannot tell you how it hurts me 
to say this —they tied him. Yes, they did! They 
tied him to an old hook and kept him there for 
nearly a week! They took him out for a breath 
of air for a few minutes each day and then put 
him back in his stuffy prison. 



They tied him 








r 


CHAPTER II 

READY A PRISONER 

O F course if Ready had been a dog of the 
world, he might have found ways to 
escape. He might have snapped at people or 
howled all night. Then the father of the family 
would surely have let him out, for fathers hate 
to be disturbed at night. 

But Ready had always been taught that snap¬ 
ping and growling are very wicked; so he only 
moaned a little and shed a few dog tears when 
no one was looking. You see it is a disgrace 
to a dog’s doghood to be found in tears. 

Of course he was not the least bit hungry. 

How could any dog be hungry shut up all day 

11 


12 


LITTLE DOG READY 


in a stuffy old room? And then nothing takes 
away a dog’s appetite so quickly as sad thoughts. 

At first he did not eat anything, and then he 
began to have a very queer feeling in his legs. 



Shed a few dog tears when no one was looking 


They were such wobbly and uncertain legs that 
they frightened Ready. He remembered going 
once to a dog lecture where the speaker had 
said: 

“Fellow dogs, beware of unreliable legs! 












READY A PRISONER 


13 


There is nothing left in life for a dog if his 
legs go back on him.” 

Ready remembered that this great dog doctor 
had given him a number of prescriptions. This 
was one of them: 

FOR RAPID RUNNING LEGS 

Eat carefully, exercise regularly, and don’t ever be 
cast down. 


When Ready thought of these words, he began 
to eat a little each day and to run around the 
room for exercise after each meal. Then he tried 
very hard to cast out his sad thoughts. He 
would put himself to sleep saying over and over, 
“I think to-morrow I will get out. To-morrow 
I am going to be free.” 

Whenever the young lady talked to him, 


14 


LITTLE DOG READY 


Ready tried in all kinds of ways to tell her that 
he must get to his little master as soon as possible. 

First he would lie down at her feet and look 
up beseechingly in her eyes. After that he 



would run to the door, wagging his tail all the 
time. Then he would come back and beg. Oh, 
how hard he would beg her to let him go! 

But she never once understood him—never 
once noticed he was saying, “Oh, dear young 




READY A PRISONER 


15 


lady, please let me go back to my little master. 
He is very ill and needs me. Don’t you see that 
I belong to him?! I will do anything in the 
world for you that an honorable little dog can 
do, if you will only let me go” 

Perhaps the saddest of all his prison days was 
the time he really thought she was going to re¬ 
lease him. He had wagged his tail especially 
hard that morning at the door. She had put on 
her hat saying, “Come on, then.” 

Oh, how happy he was and how hard he tried 
to thank her! Then came the dreadful minute 
when she fastened a silver chain to his collar. 

At first he broke down completely and moaned 
and moaned. Then he thought: “Perhaps if I 
walk by her side very nicely it will soften her 
heart; and then there is always a chance when 


16 


LITTLE DOG READY 


out in the great beautiful open world.” 

So he walked quite contentedly by her side 
and waited patiently while she stopped to chat 
with some other young ladies. But when she 
said boastingly, “Do you see my beautiful 
new dog?” he simply could not stand it. Do you 

know what he did? He growled, and his growl 
had a bit of a snap in it, too. This made the 
young lady very cross, and she decided to take 
Ready home at once. 

When they reached the door, Ready’s eyes 
would have melted a heart of stone. He knelt 
to her, he moaned to her, he begged so prettily 
on his hind legs, but the young lady would 
have none of it. She pushed him rudely into 
the dark room and slammed the door. 

I think that was the saddest moment of 


READY A PRISONER 


17 


Ready’s prison life. But in spite of everything, 
Ready never once gave up the hope of getting 
his chance to escape, and that is why it came. 



The saddest moment of Ready’s prison life 























































CHAPTER III 


FREEDOM 

I T happened this way. One evening the 
young lady and her mother had gone to one 
of those long-lasting parties which do not begin 
until nearly every one in the world has gone to 
sleep. The maid was out too, probably to an¬ 
other party. The fat old cook was so sleepy 
that she forgot to fasten Ready to the hook and 
cord after she had opened the window. Wasn’t 
that lucky? 

Ready pretended to be asleep until he heard 
her slow step on the stairs. Then, quick as 
a wink, he was out of the window and in the 
yard. 


18 



FREEDOM 


19 


The shortest cut to the street was a dash 
through the flower bed, and Ready started to 
go that way. Then he remembered that really 
nice dogs were always polite to flowers. Now 



Quick as a wink he was out of the window 

the only way a dog can be really polite to 
flowers is to keep away from them; so Ready 
turned and ran around the path. 

But in spite of this long way around, Ready 






20 


LITTLE DOG READY 


was soon on the main road. He must make 
no mistake now. He must never let his head 
get turned again. Which was the right direc¬ 
tion? The road looked so strange, so dark and 
lonely, that it was hard for a dog to tell any¬ 
thing about it. 

• Ready felt that he must not wait a moment; 

A 

so he started. But he soon heard an owl hoot¬ 
ing from a tree near by, “No, no, no!” 

Then Ready turned and ran in the other 
direction. From some very far-away place he 
heard, “Quite right, Bob White,” and so he 
knew that all was well. Now he would soon 
come to his dear little master’s house. 

On and on he ran, along the cool dark vil¬ 
lage street, until suddenly he saw in the distance 
the queer-shaped old oak tree that stood by 


FREEDOM 


21 


the gray church at the corner. Ready was 
very happy, for he knew the way perfectly now. 
Many a race had he taken to this place with 
his Master Dick. Many a frolic they had had 
together under that old tree. 

It took about three minutes more of hard 
dog running to bring him to the dear green 
house. He noticed that it looked very dark 
and lonely. Perhaps all the grown-ups had 
gone to the party too. He gave three crisp 
little joy barks which always meant to Master 
Dick, “Ready’s here.” 

There was no answer at all. So Ready, with 
a heavy heart, decided to lie right down by the 
door and wait until morning. 

You may be sure that he woke up very early 
indeed, in order to be up before Master Dick. 


22 


LITTLE DOG READY 


He gave his three joy barks again and again, 
but no answer came. 

Just then old Rover appeared. He was the 
oldest dog about that part of the town, and he 
knew everything. 



Just then old Rover appeared 


“Well, well, well,” he said to Ready. “They 
have been looking everywhere for you, but 
now you are too late.” 

“Too late?” said Ready, 


FREEDOM 


23 


“Yes, too late,” said Rover severely. “The 
little master was so sick that they took him to 
the seashore yesterday.” 

Then Ready was the saddest little dog in the 
world, and he looked so. 

“It’s your own fault,” said Rover. “Why 
did you run away?” 

At this Ready broke down altogether, tail 
and all, and sobbed out the whole story. 

“Come, come,” said Rover at last, “be a dog 
and keep up your courage. Try wagging your 
tail a little, that always helps.” 

So Ready wagged his tail and it did help a 
little speck. Then Rover gave him some 
breakfast and that helped a great deal. 

After breakfast was over, Rover gave Ready 
letters of introduction to several traveling dog 


24 


LITTLE DOG READY 


friends of his in the hope that they might hap¬ 
pen to know Master Dick’s seashore home. 
But when night came a very tired and dis¬ 
couraged little Ready returned to the lonely 
house. You see, most of the traveling dogs 
had already left the city and the others had 
sent down word, “Too busy,” or “Not at home.” 

It was the darkest hour of Ready’s life. In¬ 
deed, I do not know what would have happened 
next if a happy Robin had not been still awake, 
singing, “Cheer up.” When he saw sad little 
Ready, as quick as a wink he made this other 
verse to his evening song: 

“Chance, chance, chance, 

Everybody has a chance; 

Cheer up, be Ready and wagging, 

Cheer up, cheer up.” 

I cannot tell you how much this helped 



Listening to Robin’s song of cheer 














26 


LITTLE DOG READY 


Ready. He wagged his tail at once and de¬ 
cided he would take a little run in the moon¬ 
light, so as to be on the lookout for chances. 

As he ran along, he noticed a great many 
dogs going by. Dogs he had never seen, dogs 

old, dogs young, dogs middle-aged, all in a 

✓ 

great hurry. He asked several of them where 
they were going, but few had time to answer 
him. 

One said, “Aren’t you going?” and several 
mumbled something that he could not make out. 

At last one very fat and panting dog stopped 
to rest a minute. 



\ 


FREEDOM 


27 


“Won’t you please tell me where you are 
going?” asked Ready. 

“Why, don’t you know?” was the answer. 
“This is the 21st of June!” 

Just then another dog came along. “Hurry 
up, you two, or you’ll be late,” he called out. 

“Come on,” said the panting, fat dog. 

Now Ready had had so much bad luck run¬ 
ning about with strange dogs that he only 
shook his head and said, “I don’t know any¬ 
thing about it.” 

“Don’t know anything about it? By my tail, 
you must be a stranger here,” said the panting, 




28 


LITTLE DOG READY 


fat one. Ready afterwards called him “Paf” 
for short—“P” standing for panting and “F” 
for fat, you see. 

“At midnight on the 21st of June, if it is 
moonlight, a wonderful thing happens. All 
the beasts, birds and flowers in this part of the 
world meet in an open space near the woods. 
They have music, dancing and refreshments. 
Then the Eagle, who is the king of the birds, 
grants a wish to any animal who has a clear 
record. 

“The Eagle gives the wish to the beasts, in¬ 
stead of the birds and flowers, because nobody 
ever has anything against the flowers anyway, 
and they don’t care for new experiences. As 
for the birds, they have so many chances to 
travel and do interesting things that His Maj- 



FREEDOM 


29 


esty, the Eagle, decided to go outside of his own 
family and give the wish to the four-footers. 
You see,, they get around very little as they have 
no wings. 



“Come on,” said the panting, fat dog 


“The animals are not what they once were,” 
Paf went on, as they hurried along. “Last year 
no one could get it, and the year before only 
one had a chance even to try.” 

“Do many want to try?” asked Ready.' 



30 


LITTLE DOG READY 


“Not so many as there were in my young 
days,” said Paf. “It’s unpleasant being re¬ 
fused, you see, and having all the little things 
you have done and forgotten thrown in your 
face. I’d try myself to-night, but I had a bad 
time a few days ago with an old alley cat. It 
was all her fault of course, but I know she will 
be here to-night to complain of me if I should 
come forward. 

“It is hard, these days,” Paf went on, “to 
get a clear record, since they allow all kin ds 
of cats to vote, and even flowering vines and 
chickens can speak against us. So what is an 
animal to do? It used to be that an English 
sparrow’s vote counted nothing, but now these 
worthless creatures have as much to say as we 
do. Why, no cat has a chance because the 


FREEDOM 


31 


mice are all invited. Times are sadly changed.” 
And poor Paf sighed. 



They allow all kinds of cats to vote 




CHAPTER IV 


READY AT THE GREAT GATHERING 

A T LAST they reached the place, and 
l. it was a wonderful sight. All the four- 
footed animals sat on the ground in front. 
The birds were perched on the trees, and the 
flowers massed themselves around the Eagle’s 
throne. 

Suddenly the birds all began to sing a beauti¬ 
ful song, and the flowers commenced to dance 
a soft swaying dance. Then the thrushes sang: 

“Give place, give place to our noble king, 

Whom we all do love and fear. 

Bow low, bow low, evtfry single thing, 

And then set up a cheer.” 

32 



The Great Gathering 












34 LITTLE DOG READY 

At this the flowers bowed their heads, the 
beasts all knelt, and the birds flew out to meet 



He was a savage-looking bird indeed 


His Royal Majesty, the Eagle. Then the 
birds made themselves into two lines and the 
great Eagle flew between them. 






READY AT THE GREAT GATHERING 35 


He was a savage-looking bird indeed. He 
wore for the occasion a large crown of red 
feathers, and carried in one of his claws an 
enormous stick covered with rabbit’s fur, which 
had five large dog teeth at the end of it. 

Everything and everybody clapped and bowed 
and cheered. Dogs wagged tails, chickens 
cackled, roosters crowed, birds sang, and flow¬ 
ers waved themselves. 

The Eagle looked about fiercely, bowed slight¬ 
ly, and seated himself on his throne, which was 
on a little hill. 

The entertainment began with a duet given 
jby a wood thrush and a song sparrow. It was 
very pretty indeed. This was followed by a 
Virginia Reel given by the daisies and butter¬ 
cups. 



The orchestra was made up of thrushes, whippoorwills 

an3 woodpeckers 


Then the Eagle rapped loudly with his ter¬ 
rible rod and said, “Every one may dance.” 
And every one did. 

The orchestra was made up of thrushes, 
whippoorwills and woodpeckers. The wood¬ 
peckers beat time on the bark of the trees. 
Sometimes the robins and song sparrows joined. 
It all sounded very well indeed until some blue 

jays and roosters started in. Then an old crow 

36 






READY AT THE GREAT GATHERING 37 


commenced keeping time with his “caw, caw, 
caw.” 

This was too much for the Eagle, who 
beat angrily on the oak tree with his rod and 
stopped the dance immediately. “Too much 
like a jazz band,” he shrieked. “We want 
real music here. Jays, roosters and crows be 
silent, or leave the dance hall. No cackling 
and cawing in my orchestra while I am King 
of Birds.” 

You should have seen the dancing. The 
flowers kept pretty much to themselves and 
almost always waltzed. 

The birds danced a two-step, flapping their 
wings to beat time and splitting their dances 
for a bit of a fly now and then. 

Most of the four-footers “toddled.” Some did 


33 


LITTLE DOG READY 


the old-time polka, because it used all of their 
legs evenly, beating four time, you see. 

Ready saw that Paf wanted dreadfully to 
dance and was without a partner, so he asked 



The birds danced a two-step 


him. They managed somehow to get about. 
In fact, many thought Paf’s quite awkward out- 
of-time step was something new, and several 
young chickens tried to copy it. 



READY AT THE GREAT GATHERING 39 


Then the Eagle raised his rod, and immedi¬ 
ately the dancing and music stopped. 

“Refreshments are coming next,” whispered 
Paf breathlessly. 

Ready was glad to hear this, as he had had 
nothing to eat since breakfast, but Paf was 
mistaken this time. When all was quiet the 
Eagle said fiercely: 

“Four-footers asking for wishes will now 
come forward. We may as well get this part 
of the program over at once, for from what 
I hear of the beasts this year, it will take a very 
short time.” 

Then he tapped his rod three times and said, 
“Ready!” 

Little Ready started to his feet. This was 
certainly his great chance, but he wished, oh 


LITTLE DOG READY 


40 : 

so much, that refreshments had come first, as 
his knees were weak from hunger and from 
pulling around Paf. 

A rather handsome black dog arose and a 
large white cat. There was a terrible silence as 
they walked slowly around the Eagle’s throne. 
All eyes were turned upon them. The near¬ 
sighted ones put on glasses which they had 
brought for the occasion. The white cat, being 
the only lady of the party, was called first to 
the throne. 



She had eaten their father, mother, and aunt all in one day 





READY AT THE GREAT GATHERING 41 

After asking her name, age, address and tele¬ 
phone number, the Eagle said, “This cat is be¬ 
fore you. Has any one anything against her?” 

Immediately a dozen English sparrows flew 
down to the throne and told a dreadful tale 
about her. They said that she had caught and 
eaten their mother, father and aunt all in one 
day. 

A grape vine also bent forward with leaves 
putstretched, but the Eagle waved it back, 
saying in a terrible voice: “We have had evi¬ 
dence enough. White Cat, withdraw.” And 
White Cat scudded away. 

Then the Eagle called the black dog, but an 
old hen stepped up at once and indignantly 
said, “Black Dog killed my fluffiest child when 
she was scarcely out of the shell.” 


42 


LITTLE DOG READY 


At this the Eagle took his rod and struck 
the black dog, saying in his great and dreadful 
voice, “How did you dare to come before me?” 

Of course that was the end of the black dog, 
who ran away with his tail between his legs. 

Then Ready knew that his time had come. 
If only his little legs would not give out! When 
the Eagle said sternly, “Next”, he arose and 
stood before him. 

“Your name,” said the Eagle, pointing the 
dreadful rod directly at him. 

“Ready,” he answered huskily. 

Then he heard the blue jays laughing and 
the mocking birds saying “Ready” quite scorn¬ 
fully. 

“Of course you are ready if you are ever 
going to be,” shrieked the Eagle. “Give your 



“But my name is Ready. You can see it on my collar.” 


name at once, or withdraw immediately.” 

“But my name is Ready. You can see it on 
my collar,” said Ready, and the excitement 
made his legs feel stronger. 

“Look at his collar,” commanded the Eagle, 
and everyone did. 

“It is true, Your Royal Highness,” said the 

Owl. 


43 




44 


LITTLE DOG READY 


“Extraordinary!” said the Eagle. 

“Extraordinary!” said all the animals, one 
after the other, and even the hens cackled, 
“extraordinary!” 

“Your age,” said the Eagle. 

“Eleven months, Your Majesty,” Ready an¬ 
swered bravely. 

But when it came to address and telephone 
number, Ready gathered up all his courage and 
plunged at once into his sad little story. 

Everyone was much interested. Several times 
the Eagle leaned forward and said, “Louder.” 
,Then all the hens cackled, “Louder.” 

Ready was much excited, though it hurt his 
throat to pitch his voice so high. You see he 
was not at all used to public speaking. 

However, if you had been there, you would 


READY AT THE GREAT GATHERING 45 


have known that he was making a good impres¬ 
sion. It was noticed by many of the animals that 
the Eagle once put his handkerchief to his eyes. 

There was a great silence when Ready fin¬ 
ished speaking. Then the Eagle rose upon 
his throne, flapped his wings, and spoke in a 
strangely gentle voice. 

He said, “The wish of this dog shall be 
granted at once.” 

Everybody cheered wildly. 

But the Owl, standing up and bowing low to 
the Eagle, said, “Your Majesty, I beg of you 
not to allow your feelings to carry you too far. 
Remember the rules of our great gathering 
here. Let us see if any one has anything against 
this animal.” 

Now the Eagle had always a great respect for 


46 


LITTLE DOG READY 


the Owl. Indeed, the time he had been obliged 
to go to Washington to have his picture taken 
for the new American dollar, the owl had taken 
his place at this meeting. So the Eagle said: 
“Very well, Ready is before you. Who speaks 
against him?” 

It was very still for a minute. Ready’s heart 
beat fast as he feared he might have offended a 
chicken, a cat or something without knowing 
it, but no one answered and the cheering began. 

Then again the Owl stepped forward. “I 
hate to seem so particular,” he apologized, “but 
I have just been re-reading the rules of our 
great gathering. It says: 

All animals who are strangers in the neighborhood 
must be properly introduced and vouched for before 
any wishes can be granted them. 


READY AT THE GREAT GATHERING 47 


“Now, Ready was introduced by Paf, but he 
must be vouched for by some one else. By that 
I mean,” explained the Owl, “that some one 
must speak a good word for him.” 

At this Ready’s heart sank. Who indeed 



“I will speak for him” 


would speak for him? Who knew him here? 
Then he heard a voice saying, “I will speak for 
him. When he jumped out of the window the 
other night, he was in a great hurry. The 




48 


LITTLE DOG READY 


shortest way would have been to step upon my 
lame shoulder, but he went the long way in¬ 
stead.” 

Now Ready knew that the largest geranium 
in the flower bed was speaking. 

“I am an old flower,” she continued, “but it 
is the first time a dog has shown me any con¬ 
sideration.” 

“Wonderful,” said the Eagle, waving his rod, 
“when he had so much provocation, too.” 

“So much provocation,” sang the birds. 

“Much provocation,” crowed the roosters, 
and cackled the hens. 

“Much provocation,” barked the dogs. 

Ready wondered what the large word meant, 
but felt it must be a friendly word because the 
Eagle looked so kindly at him. 


READY AT THE GREAT GATHERING 49 


“Enough,’’ commanded the King of Birds. 
“Ready, state your wish.” 

By this time Ready’s legs had grown very 
weak. For one minute he felt that he must say, 
“I wish for food.” Then he remembered that 
this was his one great chance to get back to his 
Master Dick. 

“I want to find my Master Dick’s seashore 
home,” he said in quite a loud voice. 

Then his little legs gave right out and he fell 
fainting at the Eagle’s feet! 



“Much provocation, n crowed the roosters 


CHAPTER y 


BAD NEWS 

W HEN Ready opened his eyes, he found 

himself in the loveliest little bed in the 

world. The animals by digging, gnawing, 

and scratching had made a large hollow place 

in the ground, and the birds had lined it with 

feathers. Even the flowers had given some of 

their leaves for the pillow. 

You have no idea how comfortable it was. 

The Eagle’s trained nurse was giving Ready 

a teaspoonful of medicine every other minute. 

A special dog doctor was taking his pulse, and 

hundreds of birds were standing by waiting for 

orders. Ready really felt very comfortable. 

50 



I 


A special dog doctor was taking his pulse 





















52 


LITTLE DOG READY 


“He is better,” said the dog doctor, “but not 
yet on his feet.” Of course that was quite true, 
was it not? 

“Is there anything you would like?” asked 
the trained nurse. 

Ready raised his head and said anxiously, 
“May I still have my first wish granted, if I 
ask for anything else?” 

“Certainly,” said the Eagle. 

“Certainly,” said all the others. 

“I very much want something to eat,” said 
Ready, falling back upon the pillows. 

Such a commotion as there was then! Twenty 
blue-birds at once brought in a tray of liver. 
A course of bones followed, and a large dish of 
milk was served for dessert. Ready was a very 
happy dog indeed. 


BAD NEWS 


53 


Then the Eagle said, “We will all have re¬ 
cess and refreshments.” 

Now there was much moving about, eating, 
and talking. Every one came up to Ready and 



Twenty blue birds brought in a tray of liver 


spoke to him. Many begged him to make 
week-end visits. Some asked him to house 
parties, and all the young dogs wanted his 
photograph. 

At last the Eagle raised his rod and every 
one came to order. “We will now,” he said 




54 


LITTLE DOG READY 


in a businesslike manner, “try to find Master 
Dick’s home at the seashore.” 

Ready then told him all he knew about it, 
which, of course, was very little. It was a red 
house near the sea with a pine tree in front of it. 

“That is quite enough,” said the Eagle, “I 
will send out my messengers to find it.” 

The Eagle now called together his trusty 
messengers. There were five of them. A Blue 

Heron for watchfulness; a Crow for good 

0 

judgment; a Swift for rapid flight; a Night 
Hawk for keen eyesight; and a little Sparrow 
for running the errands. 

The Eagle talked to them all in a low tone for 
a few minutes, giving them directions and 
money for the journey. 

Then the dance began, and who do you think 


BAD NEWS 


55 


was Ready’s partner this time? Why, the Eagle 
of course! It is a splendid thing to dance with 
the King of Birds, and a rare thing for a dog. 

It seemed to be dog night, for the Owl, who 
had not danced for years, stepped out with a 
dog. The Owl knew only one dance, an old- 
fashioned hop waltz. The dog knew no dance 
at all. He jostled about on his hind legs. 

They really looked so ridiculous that some 
gay young cat-birds laughed aloud, and called 
out, “Toddle, toddle, don’t just waddle.” 



They were immediately cuffed by their elders 











56 LITTLE DOG READY 

They were immediately cuffed by their elders 
for such bad manners, and made to sit out a 
whole dance in the dressing room, which was 
curtained off from the rest of the place by a row 
of young pine trees. 



Telegram for the Eagle 


Suddenly the dance was interrupted by the 
entrance of the young Sparrow, who had re¬ 
turned with a telegram for the Eagle. 

Everything stopped at once and the Eagle’s 
grandson immediately flew to the top of the 



BAD NEWS 


57 


great oak tree, where his honored grandfather’s 
spectacles had been placed in an oriole’s nest 
for safe-keeping. 

He returned in twenty seconds and found 
everybody waiting breathlessly. 

The Eagle looked troubled after he had read 
the telegram. Then he and the Owl whispered 
silently together. 

“Bad news,” cawed the crows. 

“Bad news,” shrieked the blue jays. 

“Bad news,” squeaked the field mice. 

The noise was terrific, and the Eagle waved 
his rod angrily, crying, “Silence!” 

“We are having trouble with the moths, but¬ 
terflies and bats,” he continued sternly, hitting 
at a restless young pullet. 

“You remember, that once we asked them to 

* \ 


58 


LITTLE DOG READY 


join our gathering, but the bats behaved so 
badly by bumping into everything that it broke 
up the dancing. 

“The moths also were too silly for words. 
They almost stopped the orchestra by hitting 



“Bad news,” cawed the crows and shrieked the blue jays 


them all the time. As for the butterflies, they 
went to bed as usual without even taking the 
trouble to send regrets.” 

“Shameful, shameful!” hissed everybody. 
“And so,” continued the Eagle, “we have 










BAD NEWS 


59 


never given them another invitation.” 

“Why should we?” sang a king bird shrilly. 

“Why should we?” squeaked and piped, 
barked and crowed, chirped and croaked, the 
whole company. 

“But,” the Eagle went on, waving his rod for 
silence, “the bats did not like being left out, and 
now they refuse to carry my messages over their 
telegraph wires. They have formed a union 
against us, and I can get nothing through to the 
Sandpiper because it is over a wire which they 
control. The telegram reads: 

“REFUSE TO SEND SANDPIPER MESSAGE 
UNLESS ADMITTED TO MEETING TONIGHT.” 

Of course no one understood a word of this 
message except the Owl, who kept a Book of 


60 


LITTLE DOG READY 


Knowledge in his nest and always brought it 
with him in case it should be needed. He now 
explained that the message meant that they 
would not be able to get Ready back to Master 



Dick unless the moths and bats were allowed 
to come to the meeting that night. 

He also explained that this telegram had been 
written by the oldest Bat in the world, who, for 
several years, had made his home in the attic of 



BAD NEWS 


61 


one of the offices of the Western Union Tele¬ 
graph Company. That is where he had learned 
all the big words to put in telegrams, and also 
that no self-respecting telegram could have 
more than ten words in it. 

The Owl explained this very clearly to every¬ 
one. He even pointed out the words in the 
telegram and they all counted them aloud: “1, 

2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 .” 

“Your Majesty, I think there is but one thing 
to do,” said the Owl at last in a firm voice, “and 
that is to grant them admittance to-night.” 

“We will put it to a vote,” said the Eagle, 
stepping up to his throne and rapping loudly 
for order. Then he shouted, “All in favor of 
getting Ready home by admitting these bats, 
moths and butterflies, say ‘Aye.’” 


62 


LITTLE DOG READY 


“Aye,” shouted everybody and everything. 

Ready felt that he ought not to vote on such 
a delicate matter, but he could not help wag¬ 
ging his tail. 

“Contrary ‘No,’” shrieked the Eagle. 

Silence from everybody, for they were quite 
used to public meetings now, and the wiser 
birds and beasts always watched the foolish ones 
and cuffed them if they made a sound. 

“The motion is carried,” said the Eagle. “The 
Owl will now send a telegram to admit them. 
The message will reach the Sandpiper and all 
will be right in ten minutes.” 

The Owl, being a wise old bird, had the tele¬ 
gram prepared beforehand. It said: 

ACCEPT TERMS. SEND MESSAGE TO SAND¬ 
PIPER AND COME AT ONCE. 


BAD NEWS 


63 


If you will count, you will see that this tele¬ 
gram has exactly ten words. Wasn’t that very 
clever of the Owl? 

The ten minutes passed very quickly, as every¬ 
body was talking in little groups about tele¬ 
grams. Many tried to write them. You could 
hear a group of young crows counting the 
words, “Caw, caw, caw.” 



The oldest Bat in the world appeared 








64 


LITTLE DOG READY 


Suddenly, without a word of warning, the 
oldest Bat in the world appeared with four or 
five foolish moth millers. Of course no butter¬ 
flies came. 

The Bat flew immediately toward the Eagle 
and almost knocked off his glasses. Then, after 
running into the Owl, he batted about the dance 
hall. The millers followed, trying hard to 
imitate him. 

The Bat next sat for a few moments on a 
rooster’s back and then hit a swallow who was 
flying across the floor. Finally, without a word 
of good-bye he was off again, with the millers 
flopping feebly after him. 

Everybody was much relieved to have it all 
over. Indeed, most of the lady birds and beasts 
had been so frightened that they put their hand- 


BAD NEWS 


65 


kerchiefs over their heads. 

The warblers started a song at once and soon 
everybody joined in. 

“Zee, Zee, Zee, 

Happy are we. 

Gone are the Bats, 

So remove your hats.” 

The Eagle almost smiled as he announced: 
“Now the plans are made for Ready’s depar¬ 
ture.” He did not even need to rap for silence, 
for everybody was so interested. 

“My trusty messengers have just telephoned 
me that everything is all right,” the Eagle con¬ 
tinued. “They have stopped for refreshments 
and rest at the Night Hawk’s house and will 
return shortly. 

“You must start at once with the Chipmunks,” 
he said, looking most kindly at Ready, who 


) 


66 


LITTLE DOG READY 


came and knelt before him. “Good running 
will bring you to the end of the woods by dawn. 
I have telegraphed ahead to have your breakfast 
waiting for you under the last oak tree in the 
woods. 

“It is to be guarded by the Red Headed 
Woodpecker, who has kindly consented to give 
his services. Rest here a half hour, but no 
longer. 

“Then the Swallows will show you the way 
to the beach. They have promised to fly low so 
that you will not lose them. 

“About noon, you will meet a Field Mouse. 
Jf she says, ‘Ready,’ you will follow her to a 
place where your dinner will be hidden. There 
you will meet the Sandpiper, who will take you 
along the beach until you come to an inlet. 


BAD NEWS 


67 


“You must go the rest of the way alone, as 
the Heron, who was to take you, has appen¬ 
dicitis. The road, however is straight ahead 
and will take you to your master’s home.” 



The Chipmunks were putting on their overcoats 

Ready bowed low before the Eagle, barking 
his thanks again and again, while the Chip¬ 
munks were putting on their overcoats for the 
journey. 

Some one called out “Speech, speech,” but 
the Eagle put a stop to that by saying that 





An old Frog gave Ready the queerest thing 


Ready needed to save his strength for the jour¬ 
ney. 

Just then an old Frog hopped up and gave 
Ready the queerest thing. You could never 
guess what it was —a hot-water bag! 

She said in a croaking voice, “I have never 
really been warm in my life, but a hot water 
bag has been a great comfort to me, and has 
kept me next door to warm.” 

There was nothing for Ready to do without 

68 






BAD NEWS 


69 


hurting this old Frog’s feelings, but to accept 
the bag with thanks. Yet he wondered how he 
could ever carry such an awkward thing. How¬ 
ever, the trained nurse kindly fastened it to his 

* 

collar and then he started off with the Chip¬ 
munks. 

They heard the animals cheering and calling 
“Good luck to Ready!” long after they were 
out of sight. 


CHAPTER VI 


WITH THE CHIPMUNKS 


I 


a 


jw 


1 

i 


s 

if,'- 

E 


T WAS a little hard to follow the Chip- 
JL munks at first, as they were so very much 
smaller and could of course run like lightning 
along the woody road. However, they would 
always stop and wait for Ready very politely, 
and several times when they found some nuts 
under a hickory tree he had to wait for them. 

Everything went on pretty well until they 
reached a funny little cabin in the wood. Here 
a dark little creature jumped off the roof and 
whispered “Peanut Butter!’’ Then he was off 
again as quick as a wink. 

“Peanut Butter! Peanut Butter!” chattered 


70 




WITH THE CHIPMUNKS 


71 


all the Chipmunks, and ran after the darting 
little figure. Up they jumped on the roof and 
in a moment were out of sight. 


What was poor little Ready to do? This 
delay might upset all his plans. Perhaps they 



would forget to come back altogether. He 
knew that Chipmunks love peanut butter, be¬ 
cause he had heard a Chipmunk that very 
evening boasting between dances of stealing 
into a Boy Scout’s tent and prying open the 
lid of a peanut butter jar. 







72 


LITTLE DOG READY 


Ready thought and thought, and finally de¬ 
cided to go around to the cabin door and give 
quite politely three little barks. They would 
mean, of course, “Ready, Ready, Ready.” 

At first there was no answer to his call. Then 
he barked again a little louder. This time he 
said, “Please, please, come.” 

At this, somebody in the house jumped out of 
bed, and stamping to the window called out, 
“Get away, little beast of a dog!” 

Then Ready heard the peanut butter can fall 
to the floor with a bang; and suddenly out ran 
the Chipmunks, their coats flying behind them. 

So fast did they run that they did not see 
Ready at all until they were about one hun¬ 
dred yards away from the house. As soon as 
they really came to themselves and saw Ready, 



Out ran the chipmunks 






















































74 


LITTLE DOG READY 


they cocked their little heads on one side and 
pointed their paws towards a little figure van¬ 
ishing in the distance. 

“He made us do it,” they chattered. 

“It was only a few minutes,” one of them 
apologized. 

“You needed a little rest,” another remarked. 

Ready did feel a little put out by the delay, 
but he remembered that after all they had offered 
to be his escorts and had only lost their heads 
for a few minutes. Had not he too once lost 
his head? 

So he only wagged politely when he might 
have said, “If it were not for my barking, you 
would still be eating that peanut butter.” 

Then they all started on again. To tell the 
truth, the Chipmunks really felt ashamed of 



“He made us do it,” they chattered 


themselves and thought that Ready was behav¬ 
ing splendidly. You would know this by the 
little things they tried to do for him. 

Chippy, the oldest, actually kept waiting for 

him and once admired the spots on his coat. 

Snippy, the youngest, offered to show him a 

place where they all had some nuts stored for 

winter. Of course that was a foolish offer to 

make to a dog, but Ready knew it was meant 

to be a great attention, so he said at once, “I 

thank you very much, but think I will not 

75 






76 


LITTLE DOG READY 


stop tonight, as it is growing quite late.” 

They were getting near the end of the woods 
now and all was going beautifully when a sud¬ 
den flash of lightning was followed quickly 
by a clap of thunder. Then came a down¬ 
pour of rain, drenching everybody in about 
two seconds. 

There was nothing to do but take refuge 
in a hollow log near by. That is to say, the 
Chipmunks went in, while Ready curled up 
under a rhododendron bush which kindly acted 
as an umbrella. 

At first the Chipmunks seemed to fuss a good 
deal, and complain about being crowded. 
Ready remembered how much they loved to 

f 

chatter, so he barked, “Speech, speech, every- 

* 

one make a speech!” 


WITH THE CHIPMUNKS 


77 


These words acted like magic. Such a jab¬ 
bering never before was heard from a hollow 
log. 

Chippy recited a poem he had written about 
himself. Snippy told of an adventure he had 
had with a gray squirrel, and as for Clippy, he 
just squeaked and thrashed around, saying, 
“Here, here, nuts, nuts!” 

It was all rather mixed up as you can guess, 
and sounded something like this: 

“I am great big Chippy, 

My brother’s name is Snippy.” 

“Here, here, nuts, nuts!” 

“And the old gray squirrel put his tail in my face.” 

“When something is the matter, 

I’m always sure to chatter.” 

“Nuts, nuts, here, here!” 

“Then I jumped on the gray squirrel’s back’, 

Giving him a tremendous whack.” 


78 


LITTLE DOG READY 


By this time the rain had stopped and a tiny 
streak of light was coming in the East. The 
Chipmunks suddenly ceased chattering. Ready 
pricked up his ears. Everything in the world 
was very still. Far, far away in the distance 
you could hear the birds beginning to wake up. 

“Dawn is coming/’ whispered Chippy, “and 
we are not yet out of the woods.” 

Without another word they were all scam¬ 
pering along the road. Ready had never gone 
so fast in his life. On and on they went. It 
was a race with the coming dawn. 

Five minutes of wonderful animal running 
brought Ready to the edge of the wood, and 
just as they reached the last oak tree, the 

beautiful rose-colored light had come behind 
the purple hills. 



Five minutes of wonderful animal running brought 
Ready to the edge of the wood 


Ready whispered a “thank you” to the Chip¬ 
munks, and an invitation to visit him for a 
week-end as soon as he found his master’s 
home. The Chipmunks put their little heads to 
one side and then curtsied. They are really 
quite polite little creatures when they remember 
to be. 

They were gone before you could say “Jack 

79 










80 


LITTLE DOG READY 


Robinson,” and Ready was left alone, waiting 
for his breakfast under the last oak tree in the 
forest. 






CHAPTER VII 


THE JOURNEY WITH THE SWALLOWS 

R EADY had scarcely been there a moment 
before a Red Headed Woodpecker came 
out of his hole and rather sleepily rang a break¬ 
fast bell. 

It sounded like this: “Punk, penk, pink,” 
and it meant, “Come to breakfast.” 

Ready answered at once with three of his 
most cheerful barks, “Ready, ready, ready.” 

Then the Woodpecker saluted him and flew 
down to a little mound covered with fresh 
leaves. Under this was a delicious dog break¬ 
fast. 

After a pleasant little chat, the Woodpecker 

81 



A Red Headed Woodpecker rang the breakfast bell 


told Ready that he would have time for a fifteen 
minute nap, and promised to call him. You 
remember the Eagle had told him that he might 
be able to manage a half hour’s rest at this 
place. 

So after his good breakfast, Ready was very 
glad to stretch himself out on the ground. He 
was sound asleep in three seconds and oh, how 
he did hate to get up when the Woodpecker 


82 



















THE JOURNEY WITH THE SWALLOWS 83 


first tapped! He was very tired and his feet 
ached dreadfully, but after the third “punk, 
penk, pink,” Ready remembered what it was 
all about and was on his feet at once. 

“The Swallows should be here by this time,” 
said the Woodpecker, in a troubled voice. “I 
think I must telephone to find out what is the 
matter.” 

After he had hung up the receiver, which was 
hidden in a curled-up oak leaf, the Woodpecker 
said: “Bad news, indeed. One of the mother 
swallows has a frightful pain and cannot be 
left alone.” 

Then Ready knew why he had carried the 
Frog’s hot-water bag all this time. He had 
wanted very much to drop it on the way as it 
had been so warm and heavy. Moreover, some 


84 


LITTLE DOG READY 


large bats had called out as he passed, “What is 
it? What is it?” 

He now went at once to Mother Swallow’s 
house, which was in the hollow of a tree near by, 
and put the hot-water bag on her pain. You 
have no idea of the relief it gave her. Wasn’t it 
good that Ready had not thrown it away? 

Mother Swallow was then quite willing to 
have Father Swallow and the children go on 
with Ready. Even Fluffy Forked Tail, the 
youngest in the family, went along. 

Ready and the Swallows soon made up for 
lost time. The Swallows were very polite, al¬ 
ways waiting for Ready and flying low to show 
him the way. 

Everything seemed to be going very well in¬ 
deed, and Ready’s heart was full of hope. The 


THE JOURNEY WITH THE SWALLOWS 85 


sun was getting higher and higher and he knew 
that it would soon be noon. 

The Swallows had stopped a few minutes to 
rest on a telephone wire and Ready was pant¬ 
ing a little on the ground below, when suddenly 
a splash was heard in a pond near by. This was 
followed by a great sputtering and twittering 
and a call for help. Father Swallow looked 
quickly about and saw that his youngest child 
was missing. 

“Oh, why did I ever let him come?” moaned 
Father Swallow, as he flew to the rescue. “He 
has only just learned to fly, and I fear his wings 
have given out.” 

In a moment they were all around the pond, 
and sure enough, there was Fluffy Forked Tail 
in the water. Fortunately he had managed to 


86 


LITTLE DOG READY 


climb up on a big lily leaf, or he would have 
been drowned before any help arrived. 

Ready swam in at once and let poor Fluffy 
get on his back. In a few moments both were 



Ready swam in and let poor Fluffy get on his back 


safe on the shore, with all the other swallows 
twittering about them. 

There was a family consultation at once, and 
then Father Swallow said to Ready: “My child 
is suffering from nervous exhaustion, and I fear 
we must consult a physician at once. I have 








THE JOURNEY WITH THE SWALLOWS 87 


heard that there is a good doctor among the 
Barn Swallows about half a mile from here. I 
am sending my two oldest sons over there to try 
to find him. The other two children are mak¬ 
ing a bed for poor little Fluffy, and I must 
stay by his side and fan him until the doctor 
comes. 

“This is a most unfortunate delay for you, 
Ready, but I fear that it would be impossible for 
you to find your way alone.” 

Ready felt very much disheartened, for this 
delay might spoil everything. The Field Mouse 
might grow tired of waiting. The Sandpiper 
might fly home again, and then how could he 
ever get to his dear master’s home? Indeed, he 
almost broke down, so great was his disappoint¬ 


ment. 


88 


LITTLE DOG READY 


But as he looked into Father Swallow’s wor¬ 
ried and anxious face, he decided that he was 
quite selfish to be so full of his own affairs. He 
arose, and pulling himself together said, “Surely, 
there must 'be something that I can do to help.” 

Indeed, there was much to do, and Ready 
soon found his heart getting lighter as he helped 
the Swallows carry feathers and twigs to make 
the little bed by the pond. 

Of course, this carrying of twigs and feathers 
was not a dog’s work, and once a little Spaniel, 
from a field near by, barked “Baby! Baby!” It 
was hard indeed not to run after him and give 
him a good whipping, but this time Ready kept 
his head by saying to himself in a low tone, over 
and over again: 

“My Master Dick is waiting, waiting, my 


THE JOURNEY WITH THE SWALLOWS 89 


dear, dear Master Dick.” This helped wonder¬ 
fully. 

In a few minutes the little bed was made. It 
was a lovely soft one, beautifully lined with 



Dr. Barn Swallow 


feathers brought from a chicken yard near by. 

Fluffy Forked Tail felt better immediately, 
and when two of the swallows, who had been 
watching on the telephone wire, twittered ex- 



90 


LITTLE DOG READY 


citedly, “They are coming!” he roused himself 
and chirped “Good, good!” 

Dr. Barn Swallow, who looked very hand¬ 
some in his beautiful buff vest, turned out to be 
a very good physician. He took Fluffy’s pulse 
and gave him a tablet at once. Then he said, “He 
will be better in a few hours, but must have a 
good sleep now. After that he must go home 
and remain in bed the rest of the day.” 

Ready’s heart sank at these words, but he 
again pulled himself together. 

Father Swallow told the doctor about Ready, 
and the doctor listened with great interest, say¬ 
ing, every now and then, “Certainly,” and “Of 
course.” 

When Father Swallow had finished, the Doc¬ 
tor threw away the cigar he had been smok- 


THE JOURNEY WITH THE SWALLOWS 91 


ing, and was silent for a moment. Then he said: 

“I think it will be quite safe for you to go 
on with Ready and leave the children here to 
.take care of the patient. He must sleep, any¬ 
way, and only needs some one about to see that 
he is not disturbed. You will be back in time to 
take him home.” 

Oh, how Ready loved Dr. Barn Swallow for 
those words! Even to this day he never passes 
a barn swallow without saluting most politely 
and asking if he can be of any service. 

And so it was all settled. Soon the good-byes 
and thank-yous were said, the Doctor’s fee was 
paid, and Ready and Father Swallow were 
speeding along the meadow road. 

Ready was afraid that it was too late for the 

Field Mouse to appear. He felt that it must 


92 


LITTLE DOG READY 


be long past noon. So he was greatly excited 
when he saw one scudding along the road, and 
was about to run after it and say, “I am Ready. 
Are you waiting for me?” 

But Father Swallow laid a detaining wing on 
his shoulder, saying, “The Eagle’s directions 
are to wait until the Field Mouse says ‘Ready.’ 
There are some bad little fellows about here 
that might lead you astray and then pick your 
pockets.” 

So Ready had to content himself with going 
quietly along, but his eyes were eagerly watch¬ 
ing both sides of the road. Several field mice 
passed him and stared quite rudely, but none of 
them said a word to him. 

Just as they came to a turn in the road, Ready 
stopped short, for there, lying under a toad-stool, 


7 



There, lying under a toad-stool, was a Field Mouse, 

fast asleep 

was a Field Mouse, fast asleep. Ready gave a 
tiny bark. At least he thought there would be 
no harm in that. The Field Mouse awakened 
immediately, blinked, and then squeaked: 
“Ready?” 

Oh, how happy our little dog felt! His heart 

grew so light that he did not feel it at all. 

Father Swallow patted him on the back and 

said “Good-bye” at once, promising to send him 

a postal as soon as his son was better. 

93 












94 


LITTLE DOG READY 




The Field Mouse apologized for having 
fallen asleep, and guided Ready to a dinner of 
nice meaty bones in an old pan near a barn. 

“You were so late coming,” she said, “and the 
sun was so warm, that I somehow lost myself for 
a few moments. It is just as well you are late, as 
the Sandpiper telephoned that his wife had a 
seamstress this morning and so he could not get 
here on time. You must wait here until you 
hear him calling you from the beach.” 

With these words the Field Mouse said “Good¬ 
bye,” and scudded off through the long grass. 






CHAPTER VIII 


A DREADFUL VISITOR 

R EADY finished his dinner slowly, 
stretched himself out in the grass, and 
waited for the Sandpiper to appear. He was 
quite near the beach now and knew, of course, 
that the Sandpiper would take him along the 
water’s edge. 

How he hoped he would not have a long 
wait! Life lately had been so full of waiting, 
waiting, nothing but waiting! 

He began to feel very sleepy, and then sud¬ 
denly he heard something laugh. It was not a 
pleasant laugh—it was low and harsh, and dis¬ 
agreeable. 


95 


96 


LITTLE DOG READY 


Ready started up and found the queerest 
creature gazing down at him. It looked some¬ 
thing like a bird, something like a bat, and not 
unlike a rooster. It had dreadful colors on it, 



“Nonsense,” snarled the creature 


reds and greens and queer purples which some¬ 
how reminded you of all the unpleasant things 
you had ever seen. When the creature laughed, 
it reminded you of all the unpleasant things you 
had ever heard. 



A DREADFUL VISITOR 


97 


“The Sandpiper won’t come,” it said 
hoarsely. “The bats never sent him the mes¬ 
sage. I’m a relative, and I guess I know.” 

“But he promised,” said Ready. 

“Nonsense,” snarled the creature. “What’s 
a bat’s promise worth? The Sandpiper will 
never come, and as for you, you will go on and 
on and never get anywhere!” 

“Oh, oh, oh!” said Ready, and then some¬ 
thing went crack, whack, thack! 

He jumped up and looked about. Not a 
thing was there. His bones ached, his tail felt 
bent and queer, and his eyes were heavy. 

“Why, I do believe I have been asleep,” he 
said. “It’s all a dream, a kind of nightmare. 
Although the sun is shining so brightly, I sup¬ 
pose it should be called a daymare.” 


98 


LITTLE DOG READY 


He arose, blinked, stretched his legs, and 
shook himself to keep his heart from getting too 
heavy. “The Sandpiper will come. The Sand¬ 
piper will come,” he said. 

Then he looked down the beach, and away 
off in the distance he saw a little dark, moving 
object. Then he heard a low, sweet call: “Peet 
weet, peet weet.” 

“That,” said Ready, with a joyful bark, “is 
the Sandpiper.” And it was. 



“That,” said Ready, “is the Sandpiper” 


CHAPTER IX 


THE JOURNEY WITH THE SANDPIPER 

T HE Sandpiper arrived in about one more 
minute. He made many apologies for 
being late. 

“You see, my wife has a seamstress to-day,” 
he said. “They have been very busy making 
over the children’s summer suits, and I have had 
to do all the housework. The children play so 
much in the little pool that they wear out their 
clothes very quickly.” 

Mr. Sandpiper was a very pleasant traveling 
companion, although it must be said that he 
had some queer habits. He would run along 

the beach very rapidly and then stop for a few 

99 



> 9 :> 


100 


LITTLE DOG READY 


minutes and teeter while talking to Ready. 
His voice was very sweet and low. 

Ready greatly admired his neat and slender 
body, his very neat and slender legs, and his 
particularly neat and long slender bill. 



Mr. SanHpiper 


By this time Ready, having had so much 
experience with so many different_birds and 
beasts, knew very well how to entertain them. 
He asked Mr. Sandpiper quite naturally if he 
had a comfortable home this year. 



THE JOURNEY WITH THE SANDPIPER 101 


“Very comfortable indeed, thank you,” was 
the reply. “It has the best lining we have ever 
had.” 

And then Mr. Sandpiper was off for a drink 
in a pool near by. He flew above Ready in a 
rather jerky fashion and at last alighted on a 
little rock and commenced teetering again. 

“Our nest is a little farther from the water 
than usual,” he continued, and then was off 
again for another drink. Indeed it was quite 
difficult to follow him, either in movements or 
conversation. 

Things were going along pretty well, how¬ 
ever, when Mr. Sandpiper stopped short right 
in the middle of a sentence and a teeter. 

“What’s that?” he said anxiously. 

Ready listened but heard nothing. 


102 


LITTLE DOG READY 


“There’s trouble at home. That’s my wife’s 
danger call,” Mr. Sandpiper exclaimed. And 
then Ready did hear a low, frightened, far¬ 
away little peep. 

• Away flew Mr. Sandpiper in his queer jerky 
fashion, while Ready followed him as rapidly 
as he could. And then quite suddenly there 
appeared the strangest sight that Ready had 
ever seen. 

t 

Two boys were walking along the beach, and 
in front of them on the sand lay Mrs. Sandpiper, 
flopping about on one wing in a very pitiful 
way. She would wait until the boys had almost 
caught her before she would raise herself and 
fly a little farther away from them. Then she 
would flop again. 

“She is not really hurt, you know,” whis- 


THE JOURNEY WITH THE SANDPIPER 103 


pered Mr. Sandpiper, “but those dreadful boys 
want to rob us of our home, and she is trying 
to lead them away from it. I must fly over 
and look after the children, who have probably 
been told to hide under some leaves.” 

He was off without another word and dis¬ 
appeared behind a tall rock. 

At first the boys thought it was great fun to 
try to catch the Sandpiper, but after failing 
to do it several times, they began to grow tired. 

“Oh, let’s go away,” said one. “I believe 
she is just trying to fool us. I have heard that 
they do that sometimes.” 

“I am sure the nest is near by,” said the 
other boy. “I heard something over there.” 

So the boys turned away from Mrs. Sand¬ 
piper and went over toward the little rock. 


104 


LITTLE DOG READY 


Ready knew that something must be done, 
or they would surely find the nest. Mrs. Sand¬ 
piper gave a. frightened little peep which said, 
“Oh, please, please, somebody do something 
to save my home and children.” 

It took all Ready’s courage, but it must be 
done. It was against his bringing up, against 
his highest principles, against good taste in 
dogs’ circles, but it must be done. He ran bark¬ 
ing at the two boys. He did not wait for them 
to protect themselves with sticks and stones, 
but growling and showing his teeth, he made 
a spring towards them. The boys ran off, with 
Ready close upon them. He must finish up 
the work now and get them really out of the 
way. 

On and on ran the boys, on and on went 


THE JOURNEY WITH THE SANDPIPER 105 

Ready, growling and barking savagely all the 
time. You would have thought he was the 
most snappy, vicious little dog in the world 
if you had heard and seen him then, but all 
the time he was running, his heart was growing 
heavier and heavier. 

Something seemed to be saying to him, “You 
will lose the way, go back, go back.” 

And then something else seemed to be an¬ 
swering, “But every dog must do his duty” 



On and on ran the boys, and on and on went Ready 


106 


LITTLE DOG READY 


At last they came to a rather rocky part of 
the beach. There was one very high queerly 
shaped rock, and the boys quickly climbed 
over it and tried to hide behind it. 

“Here is a good place to turn around,” 
Ready decided. “I’ll pretend to have lost them 
and run back now.” 

But just as he turned and started on the 
backward stretch, he felt a sharp stinging pain 
in one of his legs. A horrid little sharp stone 
had hit him, and then came another, almost 
touching him. 

The boys were now taking their revenge. 
. In spite of the sharp pain, Ready knew that 
he must not linger here or let them see that 
he had been hurt, so he ran bravely along, hold¬ 
ing his head proudly, never once letting those 


THE JOURNEY WITH THE SANDPIPER 107 


mean, cowardly boys know that anything was 
the matter. 

The pain began to grow very bad, and Ready 
felt that he must stop somewhere soon. But 
there was no sheltered spot in sight. The sunny 
beach stretched out before him for miles and 
miles. 

At last he saw another Sandpiper taking a 
drink in a tiny pool in one of the rocks. Ready 
limped up to him and asked if he knew any 
shady spot where he could rest for a few min¬ 
utes. You see, he knew Sandpiper language 
very well by this time. 

The Sandpiper, after jerking himself about, 
remembered a nice little place behind a rock 
about a quarter of a mile away. He guided 
poor limping Ready to it, and then Ready told 


108 


LITTLE DOG READY 


him all about his difficulties. The Sandpiper 
was very much interested. 

“I think I know your guide quite well,” he 
said, “and I will fly back and tell him where you 
are. He is a neighbor of mine. Hasn’t he a 
particularly large black spot right in the middle 
of his white shirt front?” 

Wasn’t it splendid that Ready remembered 
this very spot? He had noticed it during Mr. 
Sandpiper’s first teeter. As you see, Ready was 
really a very observant little dog. 

After the Sandpiper had gone, and Ready 
was left all alone with the pain, it felt very bad 
indeed. Life seemed pretty hard. There was 
always something unpleasant happening to 
him. 

He wondered if he would ever really reach 


THE JOURNEY WITH THE SANDPIPER 109 


his journey’s end. Perhaps his leg would 
grow worse and worse. He had heard of legs 
that did do that. Perhaps—but just then from 
right around the corner a big shaggy brown 
dog appeared! 

Ready was a great judge of dogs. Indeed, 
he had been brought up with them, and one 
look in this dog’s face told him that he had 
found a friend. He was such a kind-eyed dog, 
with understanding ears and tail. Ready knew 
at once that this dog was years older than he, 
and that he would know all about lame legs. 

“You are suffering,” gently barked Shaggy 
Dog. 

At this Ready gave up and moaned out his 
story. Shaggy Dog’s eyes grew kinder and 
kinder. In a moment he had looked at the 


110 


LITTLE DOG READY 


poor leg and had made it much more com¬ 
fortable by a little licking. Then he had Ready 
bathe it in a pool near by, and gave him the 
best medicine in the world. Do you know 
what it was? He gave him back his courage. 

“Your leg will feel much better in a half 
hour,” he said, “and you will be able to go along 
easily. Your Sandpiper friend will soon be 
here, and I will stay with you until he does 
come. 

“You have made a wonderful journey and 
from what you tell me, I know you must be 
nearly there. Be thankful that the very last 
part of your journey you can take alone, for 
then you need have no interruptions.” 

Ready was much comforted, and his leg be¬ 
gan to feel a great deal better. Shaggy Dog 



“You are suffering,” gently barked Shaggy Dog 














112 


LITTLE DOG READY 


told Ready that he would gladly go with him 
to the end of his journey, but his business, as 
the oldest dog in the neighborhood, was to 
carry dog messages and to look after things 
generally all along the beach. 

This afternoon he was taking a special de¬ 
livery to a young collie some distance away. 
It was a message from his grandfather to say 
that he was coming that night to spend the 
week-end. The young collie must know about 
it this afternoon in order to get some special 



Mr. and Mrs. Sandpiper and three of their children 






THE JOURNEY WITH THE SANDPIPER 113 


food ready for his grandfather, whose teeth and 
digestion were very poor. 

Then Shaggy Dog, seeing that Ready was 
still a little nervous, recited some dog poetry 
he had made. It went something like this: 

“If you Have a lame leg, 

You won’t Have to beg. 

Forget the old stone, 

And think of a bone. 

Instead of a moan, 

Say, ‘Soon I’ll be home.’ n 

Do you know what happened? Ready was 
asleep in a few minutes. When he awakened, 
Shaggy Dog was smiling down at him and Mr. 
and Mrs. Sandpiper, with three of the children, 
were twittering above his head. 

As soon as they saw that Ready was awake, 
they flew toward him. Then Mother Sand- 


114 


LITTLE DOG READY 


piper, in a pretty little song, thanked him for 
saving all the family from destruction. Father 

■v. 

Sandpiper joined in the last two lines, and at 
a signal from their mother, the little Sand¬ 
pipers joined in the chorus. 

It sounded to Ready something like this: 

“Peet-weet, peet-weet, 

You deserve much meat. 

Peet-weet, peet-weet, 

You’ll soon be on your feet.” 

After all the hand-shaking and good-byes 
were over, Ready found out that his leg was 
about well, and Mr. Sandpiper and he started 
off again. 

He hated to leave old Shaggy Dog, but had 
to be satisfied with the promise of a visit from 
him on the very first day of his vacation. 

As they went along, Mr. Sandpiper ex- 


THE JOURNEY WITH THE SANDPIPER 115 


plained that he would have followed Ready 
immediately if he had not found Mrs. Sand¬ 
piper in hysterics, and it had taken some time 
to quiet her. He said he was quite proud of 
the children, who had stood motionless under 
some tall weeds during the terrible danger. 

At last Ready and Mr. Sandpiper came to 
a place where a long straight road lay before 
them. This was the place where the Sandpiper 
had to leave him. He carefully explained how 
easy it was to follow the road. 

He said, “You remember that the Heron 
was to go with you and show you a short cut 
through the marshes. Perhaps it is just as well 
for you that he had appendicitis, as he always 
stops a long time to get his evening meal. Then 
if he is startled he flies at once to a tree. More- 




116 


LITTLE DOG READY 


over, he is rather apt to pick a quarrel. It is 
thought by some of the best authorities in Bird- 
land that his appendicitis came from eating 
too heartily one night and quarreling violently 
afterwards.” 

It was after twilight when the Sandpiper 
finally said good-bye and left Ready alone on 
the long dark road. 



r 

Alone on the long, dark road 


CHAPTER X 


THE END OF THE LONELY ROAD 


T HERE had been no arrangement made 
for Ready’s supper, as the Eagle had 
expected him to be home by dark. At first 
Ready was so relieved to be alone and have 
no one to delay him, that he gave no thought 
at all to supper. 

It was wonderful to be free, to have no 
animal or bird to entertain, to be able to go 
on and on rapidly along a straight road. 

But after a time, this going on and on grew 
a little difficult. Thoughts of supper would 
keep coming. Little side roads kept beckon¬ 
ing to him and whispering, “This way for 

117 


118 


LITTLE DOG READY 


food.” Then he commenced to feel the pain 
in his leg, but did not dare to stop and rest for 
fear he would be too lame to get up again. 

So on through the darkness little Ready ran, 
keeping his eyes straight before him, never 
stopping a moment, so great was his fear of 
losing his head or falling asleep. 

“I must try to keep the courage that dear old 
Shaggy Dog has given me,” he said to him¬ 
self. 

Then there came to him these lines: 

‘‘Instead of a moan, say ‘Soon I’ll be home’.” 
Much to his surprise he found himself add¬ 
ing: 

“I shall keep on the run 
Till the journey is done. 

I shall not once stop 
Until I just drop 


THE END OF THE LONELY ROAD 119 


On Master Dick’s bed 
In the small cottage red.” 

Ready felt wonderfully proud of himself to 
have made up this verse, and decided to have 
it published some day in the Dog Biscuit 
Weekly, which was considered the very best 
dog magazine. 

Suddenly there was a rustle in the bushes, 
and an enormous black dog appeared. He was 
not a pleasant dog to look at or talk to. Any 
dog of good standing could feel that at once. 

He went up to Ready and said, “Come with 
me, and your fortune is made.” 

Ready did not even slow up as he an¬ 
swered coldly, “I have no time to make my 
fortune. I must get to my Master Dick to¬ 
night.” 


120 


LITTLE DOG READY 


The black dog came nearer. 

“Do not let such a chance go by,” he whis¬ 
pered. “It means bones for months and liver 
as long as you live.” 

“Oh, why did he mention liver?” thought 
Ready. He was so hungry and it was his 
favorite food! 

But something sang to Ready, 

“I shall keep on the run 
Till my journey is 'done.” 

So he turned sharply toward the black dog, 
saying, as he ran: 

“Go away at once. Do you suppose I would 
let you keep me from seeing my master to¬ 
night?” 

“Suppose I make you come?” said Black 
Dog, in an ugly voice. 


THE END OF THE LONELY ROAD 121 


Ready looked at the Black Dog. He looked 
at him from head to foot, and then, with a 
growl, he made a step towards him. 

Do you know what happened? The Black 



In spite of his large size he was a coward 


Dog turned and ran away as fast as he could. 
You see that in spite of his large size and big 
voice, he was a coward. Many large-sized big¬ 
voiced things are. 

It was growing late now. Even the stars 





122 


LITTLE DOG READY 


were getting sleepy, and Ready was the weariest 
little dog in all the world. 

He had come now to a village, and he began 
to look anxiously for the red cottage with the 
pine tree in front of it. 

On and on he went, past brown houses, white 
houses, green houses, past everything. Oh, 
where was it? Now there were no houses left. 

Ready felt the tears coming to his eyes. He 
had been looking so long and so eagerly; his 
legs ached terribly. How could he keep on? 
Then something sang to him, 

“Instead of a moan, 

Bark, soon I’ll be home.” 

There was a sudden turn in the road and 
there, right before him, it stood— 

THE RED HOUSE AND THE BIG PINE TREE! 


THE END OF THE LONELY ROAD 123 


And yes, oh yes, there was a light in the win¬ 
dow! He had reached his journey’s end! 

They were home! Ready suddenly felt very 
strong and happy, and not at all tired. He 
came softly up to the lighted window. There 
sat Master Dick’s father and mother. 

The father was saying, “How’s the little 
fellow to-night?” 

The mother answered, “He’s trying very hard 
to be brave, but he can’t forget little Ready. Do 
you know, he insists upon having the window 
nearest the bed always open? Poor little fellow, 
I fear that he cries himself to sleep after I leave 
the room.” 

Ready didn’t wait to hear another word, but 
ran at once to that open window. In the dark 
room lay a little boy with wet eyes. 


124 


LITTLE DOG READY 


“I’m not being a soldier,” he was whispering 
to himself, “but I can’t help it. Oh, Ready, 
Ready, if I could just have you for a minute!” 

Then there were three little barks, and a 
waggy tail was on Master Dick’s nose. 

There was a cry of joy from a little boy and a 
bark of delight from a little dog. 

Then a happy child’s voice was heard all 
over the house calling, “Mother, father, every¬ 
body, READY’S COME BACK!” 







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